"Mokusatsu" was the Japanese response to the United States' demands for their immediate and unconditional surrender which may have influenced President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The word is formed from the Chinese characters for silence, "moku," and kill, "satsu." The etymological meaning is therefore, "killed off by silent contempt" or "the act of keeping a contemptuous silence." This response to the Potsdam Declaration was a political strategy. They were either sending a subtle message that surrender is a possibility but they just weren't ready to admit it or they were just trying to appease the military.
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